1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a music board game, and more particularly to a board game directed to players"" knowledge about popular performing artists and their songs, whereby the players attempt to identify a performing artist within a specified time frame after hearing a team member sing songs by the artist.
2. Description of the Background
Board games are widely used as a means for family and friendly entertainment. Many board games include a game board, game pieces, and some means to advance the game pieces around the board. A number of such board games have had musical themes.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,313 to Hockley shows a board game that requires identification of television theme songs from listening to audio cassettes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,561 to Hoffman shows a board game directed to the players"" knowledge of music to answer music trivia questions. Question cards relate to song titles, artists and lyrics.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,025 to Hines et al. shows a board game which involves the identification of a melody or song a after the players listen to a portion of the melody.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,337 to Callender shows a board game which requires comparison by the player of two representations and recognition of the association between the representations in the field of music.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,006 to Bruno et al. shows a question and answer format quiz game wherein a song title and year or song title and music category are identified and a player must identify the performing artist within a specified time period. The temporal and music categories are randomly selected by rolling a die.
There was also a series of board games published by the Hersch Company in the early 1990""s, all of which required players to complete lyrics to popular songs.
While each of the foregoing examples calls upon the knowledge of players with respect to artists, songs and lyrics, none combine these requirements in a Karaoke format with actual singing, while calling upon the players"" knowledge of performing artists and the lyrics and melody of their songs. It would be greatly advantageous to provide a music theme board game that incorporates characteristics of the popular Karaoke singing phenomenon, while calling upon the players"" knowledge of performing artists and the lyrics and melody of their songs.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a music theme board game apparatus and method that provide home entertainment and amusement in a tongue-in-cheek Karaoke setting, with teams of players progressing around a board through various Karaoke clubs, automated teller machines (to pay for the club expenses), etc.
It is another object to provide a music theme board game as described above that incorporates characteristics of the popular Karaoke singing phenomenon, while calling upon the players"" knowledge of performing artists and the lyrics and melody of their songs, thereby requiring a combination of knowledge and talent to win.
It is another object to provide a music theme board game as described above that may be easily and efficiently manufactured.
According to the present invention, the above-described and other objects are accomplished by providing a music-theme board game for play by two or more teams with two or more players on each team. The game comprises a game board, a set of instruction cards, a plurality of game pieces, a die, and a one minute timer. Said game board contains a plurality of squares, representing Karaoke Club, ATM, and Stage Fright categories, interspersed and forming a path around the perimeter of the board, with a xe2x80x9cTake the Stagexe2x80x9d (start) square at the beginning and a xe2x80x9cTake a Bowxe2x80x9d (finish) square at the end of the path. A game piece is given to each team and the object of the game is to advance the game piece around the path from xe2x80x9cTake the Stagexe2x80x9d to xe2x80x9cTake a Bowxe2x80x9d and to be the first team to reach the xe2x80x9cTake a Bowxe2x80x9d square. The teams alternate turns by drawing an instruction card and following Icon-coded instructions that correspond to the square where the team""s game piece rests. For example, the Icon for Rock and Roll is a guitar, shown both on the board square for Rock and Roll and on the instruction card for the Rock and Roll category. Karaoke clubs are represented by the following squares: Country, Pop, Rock and Roll, Oldies, U Choose, Steal the Show, Take the Stage, and Take a Bow. The Country, Pop, Rock and Roll, and Oldies Karaoke squares correspond to the same specific categories of artists on the instruction cards. The U Choose and Steal the Show Karaoke squares can be any of the four music Karaoke categories: Country, Pop, Rock and Roll, or Oldies, depending upon the player""s choice. The Take the Stage and Take a Bow Karaoke squares start and finish the game, respectively. Each instruction card identifies a country, pop, rock and roll, and oldies performing artist. A team member must sing songs by the artist in an attempt to get his or her other team members to guess the name of the artist. If the team members guess the artist in the predetermined amount of time, the team gets to roll the die and move their game piece along the path according to the number of squares rolled on the die. The team continues playing until they fail to guess an artist in the required time frame or until an instruction states, xe2x80x9cEnd of Turnxe2x80x9d. As an alternative to singing clues, the participants may choose to give word clues about the artist. However, if the player uses word clues, and his or her team guesses the artist, the team""s turn ends after they roll the die and advance their game piece according to the number rolled on the die. ATM and Stage Fright squares provide instructions regarding advancing or retreating the team""s game piece, and generally end the team""s turn.